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Any Questions #285 - Chess Pieces

WAMC's Ian Pickus and resident quizzer Mike Nothnagel are just two pawns on a quiz show.

Last week's challenge
Start with the name TOM COLLINS. Change one letter to an E and you can rearrange the result to spell the name of a famous residence from American history. What is it?
Answer: If you change the S to an E, you can spell MONTICELLO.

THIS WEEK'S CATEGORY: CHESS PIECES
On-air questions: On February 10, 1996, the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue beat chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov in the first game of a six-game match. Kasparov ultimately prevailed in that series, beating Deep Blue three times and playing to a draw twice. The following year, after the computer was upgraded, it prevailed over Kasparov in a six-game match. To commemorate these historic chess matches, each correct answer this week will contain the name of a chess piece.

1. She won an amateur contest on television in 1952 at the age of 7. Twenty-two years later, her band won their first Grammy award for "Midnight Train to Georgia", and twenty-two years after that, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Who is she?
2. Filmed in Las Vegas, Nevada, and once described by TV Guide as "one part Antiques Roadshow, a dash of L.A. Ink, and a pinch of COPS", what reality series chronicles members of the Harrison family as they negotiate the value of items brought into their business by customers looking to exchange them for money?
3. Hank Morgan, a 19th-century engineer from Hartford is transported back in time to the Middle Ages, where he convinces the townspeople he is a magician, through his use and knowledge of modern technology. Morgan is bestowed the title "The Boss" by the citizens, a position he uses to attempt – ultimately, unsuccessfully – to modernize life. In what 1889 Mark Twain novel does this take place?
4. What entertainer starred in the original 1960 version of Ocean's 11 along with the four other members of the so-called "Rat Pack" (a name they never acknowledged), wrote most of the jokes and other material for the group, and later that decade hosted a self-titled talk show with an up-and-comer named Regis Philbin?
5. In the 1962 film adaptation of Richard Condon's novel The Manchurian Candidate, what playing card activates Sergeant Raymond Shaw to obey orders from the Communists who have brainwashed him?

Extra credit
1. In a popular Christmas carol, who "looked out upon the feast of St. Stephen / When the snow lay 'round about, deep and crisp and even?"
2. Actor William Daniels, who portrayed Dr. Mark Craig on St. Elsewhere, was simultaneously doing voice work on what other 1980s television series, a role he requested he not be credited for?

This week's challenge
Start with the phrase CHESS GAME. Change one letter to an N, and you can rearrange the letters to spell a four-letter word for certain farm animals and a five-letter word for where those animals might be kept. What are the words?

ANSWERS
On-air questions

1. Gladys Knight
2. Pawn Stars
3. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
4. Joey Bishop
5. Queen of diamonds

Extra credit
1. Good King Wenceslas
2. Knight Rider

 

A lifelong resident of the Capital Region, Ian joined WAMC in late 2008 and became news director in 2013. He began working on Morning Edition and has produced The Capitol Connection, Congressional Corner, and several other WAMC programs. Ian can also be heard as the host of the WAMC News Podcast and on The Roundtable and various newscasts. Ian holds a BA in English and journalism and an MA in English, both from the University at Albany, where he has taught journalism since 2013.
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